EurActiv: Developing countries urged to produce TB vaccines locally “Even though one third of the global population have the microbes that cause tuberculosis (TB), pharmaceutical companies still have little incentive to produce the drugs that can combat the deadly but curable disease. Speaking at the European Parliament on Wednesday (21…

Devex: MSF bends donation policy for pneumonia vaccine “After years of refusing vaccine handouts from big pharmaceutical companies, international medical humanitarian group Médecins Sans Frontières is bending its policy to accept donations of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. … ‘We are not asking for charity from big pharmaceutical companies, but for…

The Lancet: What are affordable vaccines? Editorial Board “…Although the world’s poorest countries are supported by Gavi, [a new report from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)] describes how a large group of middle-income countries, aid agencies, and Gavi-graduating countries are struggling to afford key vaccinations. … MSF calls on governments and…

Project Syndicate: Aid in a World of Crisis António Guterres, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees “…Protracted wars, environmental disasters, and state failure have stretched the international humanitarian aid system passed its breaking point. If the UNHCR and other relief agencies are to address the unprecedented amount of human need, they…

The Guardian: Pharmaceutical companies told to slash price of pneumococcal disease vaccine “Two giant pharmaceutical companies should lower the price of a new vaccine against pneumococcal disease that is needed by children in developing countries, but is unaffordable for some of their governments, say the volunteer doctors of Médecins Sans…

The Lancet: Is the world ready for an Ebola vaccine? Bruce Y. Lee of the International Vaccine Access Center at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and colleagues “…We propose seven key challenges to be considered early in Ebola vaccine development that will help stakeholders prepare and allow developers…

Reuters: China approves new polio vaccine, shows innovative muscle “China has approved a new polio vaccine, the first of its kind to be produced in the country, a month after local authorities gave the green light for a home-grown Ebola vaccine amid Beijing’s push to become a world leader in…

Financial Times: India spurns Gilead over hepatitis C patent “India’s patent controller has rejected a patent application from Gilead Sciences for a key compound for its blockbuster hepatitis C drug Sovaldi, a refusal that activists said would allow Indian companies immediately to start producing cheap generic versions of the medicine…”…